1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an appliance for integrating voice mail, email, fax, paging and other common forms of communication. More particularly, the present invention is related to a communication appliance which is placed on the desktop and has a passive cooling system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, separate devices were required for each of the forms of communications found in an office. For example, an office might include a separate fax machine, answering machine, web server, and pager. The presence of all of these devices takes up valuable space and can clutter a small office. When placed on a desktop, it is desirable that an appliance for communication, such as a telephone, facsimile machine, etc., take up very little space. This is especially important in the home or small office where users often have space constraints. The integration of a plurality of such appliances into a single appliance is therefore desirable.
It is desirable to have a communication appliance that will generate the minimum amount of background noise that may disturb the user. In addition, since a communication appliance is generally powered on twenty-four hours a day, it is important to have the device run as quietly as possible. Many conventional communication appliances, such as a web server, often have fan cooling systems. Since these devices are often placed in the home, the noise associated with a fan cooling system is undesirable, because fan noise can be annoying to those in the home.
Therefore, an integrated communication appliance which is small and quiet is very desirable.